The Brothers Mario: Act II - The Abduction
by onemikey
Summary: The follow-up to The Brothers Mario: Act I - The Plague. With Princess Peach having been abducted by Bowser, Mario and Luigi set out for Dark Land intent on bringing her back home to continue leading the charge to find a cure for the plague... In this act, there is blood.


"THE BROTHERS MARIO"

An apocalyptic re-imagining of the Super Mario Bros. mythology

Screenplay by Mike Schneider

ACT TWO: THE ABDUCTION

brothersmario dot com | onemikey dot com

**EXT. THE MUSHROOM KINGDOM | DAY**

The riot at the parade has fanned out into the Mushroom Kingdom at large, with the appearance of Bowser only adding fuel to the fire.

LOOTING and VANDALISM occur on a broad scale. VIOLENCE goes in both directions, the healthy against the afflicted and the afflicted against the healthy.

Mario cuts a path to the outskirts, stripping off layers of his tuxedo and carrying his signature cap in his hand while running, ducking around corners, staying in the shadows... Doing what little he can to obscure his identity.

And thus far, it's working. He has avoided detection... Until Luigi, driving the Super Mario Brothers van, bisects his route. Leaning out the window of the moving van, he shouts -

LUIGI: I saw you run away-

MARIO: Where were you?

To stay at Mario's pace, Luigi needs to slow down. Yoshi, we see now, is in the back of the vehicle.

LUIGI: Watching the parade.

MARIO: Stop the van. Get out. They'll see us.

As Luigi does -

MARIO: And lose the cap.

LUIGI: What about Yoshi?

MARIO: Keep moving.

They run. Luigi has to slow down to stay at Mario's pace.

MARIO: If you were at the parade, why didn't you do anything?

LUIGI: Because you took off. I thought there had to be a reason.

Mario finds a nook between buildings, where they can watch the van but stay secluded. He posts up. Luigi goes to him.

MARIO: Once the riot started, the parade was a mess. I couldn't stop Bowser. Not with all the afflicted.

Even as Mario speaks, he seems slightly unsure of himself. He seeks reassurance.

MARIO: I know how to get through Dark Land, right? That's where I'm at my best. I always save her. I never fail.

LUIGI: When was the last time Bowser did the abduction himself? It was the very first time, wasn't it?

Mario nods.

LUIGI: Why go back to that now?

MARIO: We're already on shaky ground because of the plague. Maybe it has something to do with that.

LUIGI: With nobody in power, this place will fold if there's much more turmoil.

MARIO: That just means we'll have to move fast to get her back.

LUIGI: I don't know if you can get out of the kingdom. It's anarchy. The riots are everywhere.

MARIO: People don't realize she's their only chance.

A beat.

LUIGI: Come on, Mario. It's been a year and no progress.

MARIO: Behind the scenes there has. Trust me, she needs to figure it out.

LUIGI: She's always needed to figure it out. What's suddenly changed?

MARIO: I think... I think she has it. She started wearing gloves. Out of nowhere. And when I snaked the drain...

LUIGI: What?

MARIO: It wasn't a normal clog.

LUIGI: Did you touch anything?

MARIO: I had gloves on. I'm fine.

LUIGI: It didn't hit your skin?

MARIO: Do you have to argue with me about everything?

LUIGI: How does me checking to see if you're okay count as arguing?

MARIO: See, you're doing it again.

Luigi shakes his head.

MARIO: Now are you coming with me to Dark Land or not?

**INT. THE CASTLE OF PRINCESS PEACH, LAB | DAY**

Ludwig stares out over a CANVAS OF DEAD BODIES, including GUARDS and SCIENTISTS - who had been working here to develop a cure for the plague... Until the Hammer Brothers MASSACRED EVERYONE, and Larry DESTROYED EVERYTHING with his CHAIN.

As the Hammer Brothers stroll past the corpses, seeking signs of life so they can enact more violence, Larry picks up a needle from a syringe and uses it to jab holes in portraits of the Princess.

GNARLED HAMMER: Time to give us the plague, Ludwig.

A look of surprise from Ludwig.

LUDWIG: What did Bowser tell you?

BRUISED HAMMER: We know he has it. You have it.

GNARLED HAMMER: We like what it does to the flesh.

LUDWIG: Aren't you afraid it will kill you?

GNARLED HAMMER: King Bowser said it won't.

LUDWIG: So he told you that. And you believe him?

The Hammer Brothers nod. Ludwig examines them. The sadistic nature of their personas shines through in their demeanor post-bloodbath, which is profoundly unsettling.

LUDWIG: I can give you the plague. If you haven't contracted it already from this melee.

Although Larry is typically distracted, he picked up on this conversation. He looks at Gnarled and Bruised.

LARRY: You _want _the plague? Why would you want the plague? I couldn't stand to look like him!

LUDWIG: Our father ordered me to pass it to you on the way here, Larry.

LARRY: You won't touch me. You won't ever touch me!

LUDWIG: What if I already did, and you simply didn't notice?

LARRY: No! There's no plague on me.

LUDWIG: Sometimes it takes a few hours for the first signs to appear...

Larry begins to have what resembles a combination between a nervous breakdown and a withdrawal.

LARRY: I'll keep my youth. I'll keep it forever!

Larry retreats from Ludwig.

LUDWIG: Where are you going?

LARRY: To talk to Dad. Should I blame him for this? Or Mario? Who should I blame?!

Larry exits the lab.

BRUISED HAMMER: We could have stopped him.

LUDWIG: It's all irrelevant now. Here...

Ludwig touches his fingers to the splotch of plague on his face. The Hammer Brothers approach. They lean down... And he wipes the plague onto their flesh.

**E/I. THE MUSHROOM KINGDOM / VAN | DAY**

The van shoots through the streets. The riot can no longer be avoided. People and toads dart in every direction. The violence between healthy and afflicted perpetuates.

At the wheel, Mario lays on the horn, swerves. If there isn't a path, he'll make one...

DEBRIS is HURLED at the VAN. A 2X4 with NAILS sticking out of it SMASHES into the WINDSHIELD.

Mario punches the brake. The piece of wood flies off the window. Afflicted swarm the vehicle. Mario slams the gas, speeding forward -

The side of the van BOOMS. A plague-ridden male toad spins, trips, collapses. Our supposition is that Mario just hit him.

LUIGI: You clipped him. You just hit somebody.

MARIO: Don't think about it.

LUIGI: Did you see who threw the wood? She wasn't sick.

MARIO: Luigi! Forget it!

**EXT. SEWER PIPE SYSTEM | DAY**

The van skids to a stop, off-road, some distance away from a LARGE GREEN PIPE that extends out of the ground, equivalent to the one we saw in Sarasaland, except in prime condition.

Mario, Luigi, and Yoshi get out. The brothers grip heavy PIPE WRENCHES. They also have miner's HEAD LAMPS. At the end of the approach to the pipe, both are taken aback by what awaits them. That is, nothing.

LUIGI: You want to guess what this means?

MARIO: He wants me to go after him.

LUIGI: That's always what he wants. It never keeps him from putting someone here to try to stop you.

MARIO: You have a better idea?

LUIGI: Something's going on.

MARIO: Yeah, the Princess got abducted.

Dismissive, Mario straps his pipe-wrench to his back as a samurai would a sword. He climbs up to the rim of the pipe and descends. Yoshi leaps next... And a contemplative Luigi goes last.

**INT. SEWER PIPE SYSTEM | MOMENTS LATER**

A dark, dank and cavernous tunnel that acts as a short cut between kingdoms. A ladder leads from the top of the pipe to the base of the tunnel.

Mario and Luigi lower Yoshi to the ground as best they can before climbing down the ladder. After reaching the bottom, they switch on their head lamps and proceed...

**LATER**

Yoshi explores in advance of Mario and Luigi, staying within the pools of light created by their head lamps. Outside of that light, it is total darkness. He sniffs something out.

MARIO: What you got, Yosh?

Mario closes in on Yoshi as he tears into the floor of the tunnel, which is covered in a thick layer of dirt.

LUIGI: I forgot we buried a couple stashes just in case.

Yoshi splays dirt in every direction. In the end, he digs up a BURLAP SACK. Mario pries it away from him and looks down to open it, shining light on what's inside -

MUSHROOMS. He sorts through the bag.

MARIO: Damnit, most of these are rotted...

No, they're _all _rotted. He says this before reaching the very bottom of the sack.

MARIO: Hang on- Here's one. And... nope. Just one. We got one.

Mario pulls the mushroom out of the sack and holds it up for Luigi to see. Then, without consulting his brother, Mario chomps a bite out of it. He stretches, cracks his neck... And then polishes the mushroom off.

Luigi looks at Mario, somewhat perturbed.

MARIO: You said it yourself, there are other stashes. We'll find one for you by the time we get to Dark Land.

**INT. TOAD'S HOME | NIGHT**

Toad goes over his notes on the parade. He has developed several photos, as well, including multiple shots of Mario running away from the Princess's float...

His typewriter holds a sheet of paper with the headline for a story in progress -

"_Super" Mario No Longer Super?_

Struggling to write anything further, Toad walks to the BATHROOM, which he has turned into a MAKESHIFT DARKROOM. Inside, several more PHOTOS of the catastrophe at the parade are in the process of developing.

One in particular - which Toad is seeing for the first time - draws his immediate attention. Although whatever the photograph depicts is obscured from us, Toad's reaction is not... What he sees shakes him to the core.

Recovering, Toad snatches the photo - and bolts out of the house.

**EXT. MARIO AND LUIGI'S HOME | NIGHT**

A horde of plague-ridden Shy Guys gathers outside. Larry leads them.

LARRY: Mario! Come out!

After "asking" Mario to appear, Larry does not wait for a response. He circles the building and SHATTERS every piece of GLASS with his chain.

The Shy Guys bounce inside, through the windows.

Although Larry could enter the house through the broken sliding glass door, he attempts to obliterate the wooden front door instead. SHRAPNEL flies, but the door does not split. Filled with angst, he gives up, KICKS it in -

**INT. MARIO AND LUIGI'S HOME | CONTINUOUS**

With Shy Guys bustling about, Larry stampedes through the house, breaking whatever he so chooses.

LARRY: Mario! Where are you?!

On the way to the garage, he passes the broken sliding glass door... And misses seeing TOAD, standing in the backyard, breathing heavily.

Toad came to see Mario. But now that he sees Larry instead, he takes off, fortunately remaining undetected... As Larry bursts into the garage -

No van. The final sign Mario is gone. Larry yells unintelligibly - and then continues smashing things.

**EXT. SEWER PIPE SYSTEM | NIGHT**

Running for his life, Toad arrives at the green pipe, surprised - but also a touch relieved - to discover the presence of the Super Mario Brothers van.

He climbs into the pipe...

**INT. SEWER PIPE SYSTEM | NIGHT**

The section of the tunnel where Mario, Luigi, and Yoshi are takes a 90-degree turn.

MARIO: Yoshi, check around this corner. I swear we buried one around here.

Mario points Yoshi towards an area. Yoshi sniffs, but fails to come up with anything.

Luigi, meanwhile, leaks ahead. His miner's lamp brightens a portion of the tunnel further up the track... A THIN FIGURE DARTS INTO AND THEN OUT OF THE LIGHT.

LUIGI: Hey!

Luigi jogs forward, stops.

MARIO: What is it?

LUIGI: I saw someone.

Luigi keeps going. Mario chases after him, quickly taking control of the situation by getting out in front of his brother and leading the way.

The figure enters the light again. This time it occupies it long enough to disclose an identity - that of PRINCESS DAISY, the young woman who fled Sarasaland amidst Bowser's invasion. Appearing somewhat dazed, she starts to back away.

MARIO: Is that- Princess Daisy, is that you?

Silence. Luigi whispers -

LUIGI: Something's wrong with her.

MARIO: She probably can't recognize us from this far away.

As Daisy continues to retreat, Mario walks forward -

MARIO: It's me, Mario. And you know my brother, too, Luigi. Bowser kidnapped the Princess again. We're on our way to Dark Land.

Daisy slows.

DAISY: Can you help me get out of here?

Mario and Luigi exchange confused looks. Daisy stops.

MARIO: You're lost? Or is it because you don't have any lights?

She raises the piece of the broken candelabra with the sharp end that she used to aid in her exit from Sarasaland.

MARIO: You don't remember us?

Mario and Luigi get close enough to Daisy to have a conversation at normal volumes. Yoshi pulls up the rear. At the sight of a stranger, his mean streak comes out -

DAISY: Keep it away from me.

MARIO: Luigi, grab him.

Luigi grabs Yoshi's dangling leash, restraining him.

MARIO: Daisy, it's me... Mario.

He takes off his signature cap, shows her.

MARIO: I rescued you once. From Tatanga. Your friend, Peach... She asked me to do it, and I did. You don't remember? This was years ago...

DAISY: Don't ask me questions. Tell me how to get out.

LUIGI: Where are you trying to go?

DAISY: I said don't ask me questions.

LUIGI: If you came in, you have to know how to get out.

MARIO: His point is this isn't a maze. It's a straight shot. Just keep walking one way or the other until you reach an opening. Climb up, you're out. Make sense?

She doesn't respond.

MARIO: Daisy, is everything-

DAISY: Why do you keep calling me Daisy?! Stop. I don't know who that is. Just stop, please! Stop it.

LUIGI: Do you wanna go back to Sarasaland? You have to go-

DAISY: I don't remember where I came from.

MARIO: What about why you left?

DAISY: I told you I don't remember anything at all!

MARIO: You never said that.

She brandishes the broken candelabra. There is a real sense she might be dangerous.

MARIO: Listen, we're not gonna hurt you.

DAISY: How can I know that? I don't know you. I can't trust you.

MARIO: I'm Super Mario...

DAISY: I have no idea who you are.

She doesn't appear to be lying, but she also isn't backing down. Luigi looks to Mario - who yanks the leash out of his brother's hands and angles a frothing Yoshi at Daisy. She jumps back, takes a warning swipe with the candelabra.

MARIO: I don't know why you're lying, but I've had enough of this. You're going to let us pass...

DAISY: I don't care where you go. Just keep him away, or I'll slice him open.

MARIO: Then step to the side of the tunnel.

Slowly, Daisy begins to do so... As she does, Mario and Luigi are able to notice DRIED BLOOD on the back of her head, from when she slipped and fell and smacked into the pipe.

LUIGI: What happened to your-

MARIO: Luigi, shut it.

Cautiously, Mario walks forward. He holds Yoshi back. Luigi follows. Daisy looks increasingly erratic. When the trio gets past her, they walk backwards, just to make sure she doesn't do something rash...

LUIGI: If you keep walking in the direction we came from, there's an opening not too far ahead. To the Mushroom Kingdom, where we live.

She stares at Luigi.

DAISY: You're kinder than your brother.

She plunges into the darkness.

**LATER**

LUIGI: You see her hair? I think she has some kind of head wound. That's what's wrong.

MARIO: Either way she's out of her mind...

The brothers and Yoshi push onward, encountering increased visibility. Moonlight shines down into the tunnel through an exit. A ladder runs up and out. Mario heads towards it.

LUIGI: The plague's up there. We're safer staying underground all the way to Dark Land.

MARIO: It's our usual route, Luigi.

As Mario nears the ladder, he BUCKLES over and breaks into a sudden SWEAT. Luigi goes to him -

LUIGI: You alright?

MARIO: Just the mushroom taking effect.

Gradually, he arches back up.

MARIO: I think it hurts worse the older I get.

Mario rolls up his sleeve. His arm has added muscle mass, strengthened. When Luigi studies his brother's face, he observes a more chiseled visage.

MARIO: But to your point, you can't know how safe-

He stops himself at the sound of someone running at them - TOAD.

TOAD: Mario! Bowser didn't leave with the Princess. Luigi, listen!

MARIO: What are you talking about?

TOAD: Look.

Toad produces the photograph he took from his darkroom for Mario and Luigi -

The image is of the RIOT... But in the background a blurry, only partially in the frame Bowser can be seen taking the Princess back to her own castle, not towards the sewer pipe system and on to Dark Land as is to be expected.

TOAD: I went to find you at your house, but Larry Koopa was there. He was vandalizing everything.

MARIO: Bowser has always taken her to Dark Land. Always...

He is troubled. Not only is his plan falling apart but so is his handle on the order of the world.

TOAD: I thought I understood everything about the Super Mario, Princess Peach, and Bowser saga until I watched you abandon her while she was in the throes of danger at the parade.

Mario fires back -

MARIO: Bowser had the advantage there. I have it in Dark Land.

TOAD: Counterintuitive, yes, but accurate given your history. I realized that was your strategy when I discovered you had gone to the pipe. I thought it was quite brilliant, actually.

LUIGI: Except it turns out the plan didn't make any sense because she isn't in Dark Land.

MARIO: You had your chance to do something at the parade and you didn't do it.

He turns to Toad -

MARIO: Are you sure she's at the castle? One hundred percent sure?

TOAD: I haven't confirmed it, but-

MARIO: Then we don't know.

LUIGI: Come on, Mario. You saw the photo. Toad's making the right assumption.

MARIO: But that's all it is. If I go back and she's not there it's a waste.

LUIGI: You can say the same exact thing if we go all the way to Dark Land - except it's farther. A lot farther.

Mario goes quiet. After a moment, Toad speaks up.

TOAD: During the riot, all I heard was bewilderment, from toads and humans alike. What had their hero done? Who had he become? I don't want to have to write about that.

MARIO: So we turn back.

**EXT. THE MUSHROOM KINGDOM | NIGHT**

Meanwhile, just as the riots have calmed and sleep is a thing to be had, the Hammer Brothers enter the streets, commanding Goombas, Koopas, and Shy Guys - all afflicted with the plague - to initiate an assault on the kingdom-at-large.

HOME INVASIONS are enacted on a broad scale. Whole families are murdered if they resist, as Bowser's minions and foot soldiers seize terrain...

At the same time, Ludwig cavorts with the afflicted. The splotch of decayed skin on his face acts as a sympathizing factor. He approaches the One-Armed Toad Boy and his family, two parents and an older brother and sister -

LUDWIG: I am with you, together in having no choice but to embrace the plague. Not only myself, but also my father.

ONE-ARMED TOAD BOY: Bowser is...

LUDWIG: We have come to instigate a realignment of power.

Ludwig hands coins out to the family.

LUDWIG: The healthy have oppressed you for long enough.

Ludwig gestures towards a home but shields his eyes from it. The door is open. Inside, Goombas assail a young couple, expunging them. Only their 5-year-old son survives, but he is hobbled. Instinct pushes him to run.

Ludwig addresses One-Armed Toad Boy's family.

LUDWIG: This home belongs to you now.

One-Armed Toad Boy seizes on the opportunity, entering the home first. His parents and siblings, however, hesitate.

LUDWIG: There is little point in not accepting it. If you don't, someone else will.

He leaves things there and walks away. Before long, the rest of One-Armed Toad Boy's family streams inside the house.

**INT. DUNGEON | NIGHT**

Princess Peach braces herself against a musty stone wall. Bowser enters. He lowers his head and eyes, casting an imposing stare. He sheds his armor onto the cement floor.

PRINCESS PEACH: Why are you staying here? You despise my kingdom. What do you want from us?

As Bowser stalks towards the Princess, dusty shards of artificial light illuminate different portions of his flesh. Besides his face, which we saw earlier, the plague has spread from his arms to his chest, to his thighs...

PRINCESS PEACH: A cure? Is that what you seek? We don't possess one yet. But if we combine our resources-

BOWSER: Your lab has been destroyed and your scientists have been murdered.

PRINCESS PEACH: Why, why would you do that?! We would have had a cure within days.

Angered, Bowser stomps forward, coming within inches of the Princess's nose.

BOWSER: You're lying. Look me in my eyes and say that.

She holds her resolve. But she does not speak.

BOWSER: True or false, 'within days' is now 'within weeks.' At the very least. Maybe months. Perhaps years as I exercise my dominance...

PRINCESS PEACH: We'll all be dead before then.

BOWSER Many of us will die, yes. But not forever.

A look of incomprehension crosses the Princess.

BOWSER: What you fail to realize is that a cure is unwarranted. So no, that is not why I am here. I have come to prepare you to make a presentation to our kingdom.

PRINCESS PEACH: You're offering nonsense. I won't listen to you. I won't take part in any presentation.

BOWSER: You will.

Bowser presses his plague infected fist towards the Princess, threatening her with the sickening decay. The action drives her to meet his eyes...

PRINCESS PEACH: It is a weak threat.

She raises her arm, still adorned in the long white glove, and holds it in front of Bowser's face. Tears begin to form in her eyes. Then, she tugs at the fingers of the glove, removing it to reveal oval splotches of the plague.

Bowser is taken aback. He leans away...

BOWSER: Remove the other glove.

She does, exposing more plague.

BOWSER: And your dress.

Shaking, and now pouring tears, the Princess is overcome by paralysis. Bowser ROARS -

BOWSER: Do it now!

The Princess trembles as she pulls out of her dress, down to her underwear, showing Bowser the seemingly healthy skin on her skinny body. Instinctively, she covers her chest with her plague-ridden arms... She breaks down.

Bowser devours her with his eyes. He actually smiles.

BOWSER: I wasn't making a threat. You having the plague is crucial to the entire presentation.

The Princess's tears intensify.

BOWSER: My only regret is that you acquired it from someone other than myself. From Mario, perhaps?

She spits out -

PRINCESS PEACH: No.

BOWSER: I can't say I'm surprised. I always felt you were using each other.

PRINCESS PEACH: He never used me. He'll save me.

BOWSER: Are you worried he hasn't come yet? You shouldn't be. What else will he do? He will come in time, and when he does, he will discover the rules of the game have changed.

The Princess descends further into the depths of fear. She sinks to the dungeon floor.

BOWSER: Everything you both believe is going to die.

**EXT. SEWER PIPE SYSTEM | NIGHT**

The consortium of Mario, Luigi, Toad, and Yoshi exits the pipe. They find that the Super Mario Brothers Plumbing van has been OVERTURNED and RANSACKED. The purveyors of this act, however, are nowhere to be found.

Mario addresses Toad -

MARIO: Was it like this when you got here?

Toad shakes his head no. Mario grits his teeth. He goes to the van. Up close, the damage is even worse...

The company logo has been DEFACED. The usually red color scheme on Mario has been painted YELLOW. HORNS have been markered on his head. "DEATH TO" has been scrawled next to "Super," and "NO MORE HEROES" has been painted on the roof.

After taking this in, Mario bends down, puts his hands underneath the side of the van, flexes his legs... and LIFTS the vehicle UP, righting its axis.

Toad is excited. The show of strength boosts his hopes.

TOAD: I thought it looked like you were on a power-up.

MARIO: Get in. We're going to the castle.

LUIGI: You got a plan?

MARIO: Yeah, my plan's to make sure that's where she's being held as fast as I can.

They all load into the van. Thankfully, it starts. As Mario drives away, we linger back, picking up on MOVEMENT in the darkness. It belongs to DAISY. She listened to Luigi and left the tunnel, yet she is just as lost now as she was before.

Frightened, and desperate for somewhere to go, she trails after the rear lights on the van and the stream of its exhaust...

**E/I. THE MUSHROOM KINGDOM / VAN | NIGHT**

The Super Mario Brothers van journeys away from the sewer pipe system and into the streets, traveling on back roads in the hopes of avoiding confrontation. The aftermath of the raids, however, remains prominent. CORPSES have been shoved aside into the divides between buildings. Broken glass, splintered wood... Residue of the home invasions and store robberies threatens to restrict the path of the van.

MARIO: This can't all be from the riots.

Mario navigates slowly. The scenery has driven him, Luigi, and Toad into a distraught silence. Amongst the homeless, there are now more healthy individuals than there are afflicted.

TOAD: It looks like the healthy families have been displaced...

Three of these families, exhausted and hungry, guarded and on the defensive, form a kind of blockade in the middle of the street.

Mario is forced to stop the van.

MARIO: You can't stand there!

He gestures, bashes the horn. In the back, Yoshi rises, GROWLS.

Off in the distance, we notice the ONE-ARMED TOAD BOY lingering, repeatedly tossing a wooden baseball bat into the air and catching it. He watches Mario as...

The healthy families converge on the van like bees to nectar - except they are ANGRY. They ROCK the vehicle, assault its sides and GRAB FOR THE DOORS -

MARIO: Get the locks!

Mario slams down the lock on his door at the last second, thwarting the crowd. Toad and Luigi cover their doors, too. But at the same time -

A father/attacker BREAKS the REAR WINDOW of the VAN, and a rabid-looking Yoshi LASHES OUT to defend his masters. He catches the NECK of the man in his jaws and TEARS -

LUIGI: Yoshi! No!

Luigi leaps into the back to restrain Yoshi. Mario ELBOWS him in the neck. Yoshi YELPS, lets go of the man's flesh. Luigi wrestles him to the ground...

With total malice, the healthy REACH IN through the BROKEN WINDOW, PUNCHING, CLAWING. Mario jams the gas pedal. He splits the crowd, gets away...

One-Armed Toad Boy watches them go. He has stopped playing catch with the bat.

Toad huddles into the corner of the van, as Luigi pins Yoshi down and looks up, making eye contact with a MOTHER in the fading crowd... She pleads -

MOTHER: They raided our homes. Took them away, gave them to the afflicted. Maybe you, Luigi. Maybe you can save us.

And in fact the discrepancy between how she and her brethren look at Luigi and how they just treated Mario is vast.

**EXT. CASTLE VANTAGE POINT | NIGHT**

The van arrives at the top of a hill that serves as an adequate vantage point on the castle - not so close to cause alarm, especially in the darkness, but not so far away that Mario and company are unable to see everything.

They leave the van, keeping Yoshi inside. For now, there are no words... And what they observe on the artificially lit castle grounds does nothing to inspire conversation. Quite the opposite...

BECAUSE THE CASTLE HAS BEEN COMPLETELY TAKEN OVER.

Afflicted Goombas and Shy Guys troll the grounds. LAKITUS - Koopas that hover on CLOUDS and hurl SPIKED BALLS - float around its turrets, acting as sentries in the sky.

Koopas with the plague scale the castle. Some TEAR AWAY ITS GOLDEN TRIM while others PAINT THE WALLS BLACK.

Worse, near the moat, the Hammer Brothers operate a primitive FIRING SQUAD. Servants and guards and some of the men from the Princess's foyer party have been lined up in CHAINS. One- by-one they are selected for execution...

Gnarled and Bruised - both splotched with plague - trade off as executioner, THROWING SLEDGEHAMMERS at a chosen individual's SKULL, killing them in a single strike.

The bodies of the dead are dumped into the ever-dirtying water of the moat.

MARIO: I've never seen anything like this.

Mario is aghast. The same can be said for Toad and Luigi, who are both quiet.

MARIO: If she's inside, I'm going to need a Fire Flower, at least. Maybe an Invincibility Star...

LUIGI: How long's it been since one fell out of the sky?

Mario doesn't know.

LUIGI: Toad?

But Toad can't answer because he just noticed someone in line for the firing squad -

TOAD: There's- I think that's Toadsworth.

Yes, it is Toadsworth. And Bruised has just plucked him out of the lineup. Mario, Luigi, and Toad watch helplessly as BRUISED EXECUTES TOADSWORTH. The body of the Princess's ward is then thrust into the moat.

A beat.

TOAD: The architect and orchestrator of Rescue Day...

MARIO: They're going to kill everybody.

TOAD: What about the Princess?

He turns to Mario, who reacts to his own disquiet by becoming defensive.

MARIO: We don't even know for sure that she's here, Toad.

Toad barely listens. He is too stricken by the grim possibilities...

TOAD: Your heroism could never be reclaimed.

MARIO He's not going to kill her.

But even Mario can't fully believe this. As he stews, Luigi slinks to the opposite side of the van...

LUIGI: Can you see around the back? There's a giant hole.

He's referring to the rear of the castle. Mario and Toad move in his direction. In fact, the hole is shaped to fit Bowser.

MARIO: A special entrance for Bowser.

LUIGI: That's what I thought, too.

MARIO: Question is whether he's come and gone or still inside.

TOAD: Mario, look over there, across from the hole... That's one of your floats.

Specifically, the float Mario and the Princess occupied during the parade, Bowser's throne room - albeit rebuilt and re-imagined.

The wooden carving of Bowser spitting a fireball - which was on a separate float - has been setup here, next to a wooden carving of the Princess, young and joyous, while a papier-mache Mario lies on his back, sprawled out in defeat.

A banner hangs over top of the float, attached to two posts -

LUIGI: Does that say-

TOAD: Abduction Day.

MARIO: He wants to win her over. Prove that she doesn't have to lose what she loves... Which means he hasn't killed her.

LUIGI: Yet.

MARIO: He won't.

LUIGI: You can't say that for sure. Not anymore.

MARIO: He hates me for making him look like a fool for so long. If nothing else, he'll use her to lure me in.

LUIGI: You're so convinced she's worth going after.

MARIO: She's the princess, Luigi.

LUIGI: So what? How do you know we wouldn't be better off without her? Tell me one thing she's done for us.

MARIO: She's spearheading the search for a cure.

LUIGI: The so-called search, right.

Dismissive, Luigi shakes his head and retreats towards the van. Toad lobs a question at him -

TOAD: Luigi, can I ask... Did you disagree with Mario's strategy to cede the Princess to Bowser at Rescue Day?

MARIO: He has nothing to say about that.

Luigi stares back at Mario.

LUIGI: Actually, I do. I don't think he ever should have gone to Rescue Day in the first place.

Luigi gets inside the van and slams the door closed. Toad is stunned by this revelation. He has no time to dwell on it, however, due to movement at the back of the castle...

BOWSER exits out of the giant hole. PRINCESS PEACH is at his side. He is armor-less. She is without her white gloves. Even at a distance it is possible for Mario and Toad to tell without question that both are victims of the plague.

TOAD: Maybe it's makeup. Only a ruse, in order to...

Mario shoots a look at Toad, denouncing his improbable idea.

MARIO: She needs to find a cure now. At all costs.

They watch, as Bowser shows the float to the Princess. Inside the van, Luigi watches while checking his brother's reaction, which is unpleasant and unsure.

TOAD: 321 days have passed since the last Invincibility Star fell.

MARIO: So we're due.

TOAD: Any day now. So long as this isn't a year nothing falls... But who can say?

Mario goes to the van and opens the driver side door. He asks Luigi -

MARIO: We don't have any Fire Flower paste left do we? Luigi shakes his head no.

LUIGI: I could maybe scrape together some residue.

MARIO: Or go get more flowers from Fire Mountain.

LUIGI: How much time do you think you have?

Now it's Mario's turn to shake his head. As he gets inside the van -

MARIO: I don't know.

LUIGI: I could try. Maybe.

MARIO: You're going to have to do more than try. Mario puts the vehicle in gear.

**EXT. TOAD'S HOME | NIGHT**

The van pulls up out front. Like so many other homes, Toad's has also been RAIDED and VANDALIZED.

Toad gets out of the van.

MARIO: You gonna be safe here?

TOAD: Is anyone going to be safe anywhere?

He closes the door.

TOAD: You'll come to me before you make your attempt on the castle?

Mario nods.

TOAD: If you save her from this, and she can cure the plague, it will be your most heroic conquest yet.

Toad walks to his front steps. To enter, he has no need to unlock the door - it has already been separated from its hinges.

**EXT. SUPER MARIO PLUMBING / MARIO AND LUIGI'S HOME | NIGHT**

Finally, Mario and Luigi have made it home. Unfortunately, the building is in tatters. Every window is broken. Shingles have been torn off the roof. There are holes in the facade. Supplies in the garage are strewn all over.

Since he can't get into the garage, Mario parks in the driveway. He lifts his pipe wrench off the floor of the van.

MARIO: Stay here with Yoshi. Get in the driver's seat. In case we need to run.

Luigi collects his pipe wrench.

LUIGI: I can go in with you.

MARIO: Just be ready.

Mario exits the van, leaves the door swinging in the wind. Luigi moves past Yoshi - who is still chained inside - pops open the passenger side door and slips into the front seat. He inches his door closed as Mario approaches their home...

The front door is lying on the porch. Mario steps over it and goes inside -

**INT. MARIO AND LUIGI'S HOME | CONTINUOUS**

Evidently, Larry Koopa and his gang of Shy Guys spent considerably more time here after we left them because the entire place is TRASHED.

As Mario stands in the entrance, staring straight ahead, however, he sees no immediate sign that his enemies remain... That is until he steps forward and turns towards the kitchen.

LARRY KOOPA IS WAITING WITH HIS CHAIN DRAPED OVER HIS SHOULDERS.

LARRY: Why hello there, Mario.

His nostrils flare up. He sniffles, swipes at them.

MARIO: Get out of my house.

LARRY: But I don't have what I want!

MARIO: What's that?

Larry pulls the chain off his shoulders, allowing it to dangle in his right hand.

LARRY: Good question! One I've been trying to answer with bottles and drugs and drugs and bottles... The meaning of life! In this case though, it's not really what I want because I never get what I want. It's what you deserve!

Larry walks forward, scraping the end of the chain across the tile flooring. Mario steels himself, readies his pipe wrench.

LARRY: The only dilemma is that my dad wants to give you something, but I think you should be slaughtered. Can I hold back? Only time will tell!

AND THEN LARRY ATTACKS -

He whips the chain out at Mario, who dodges. It strikes the wall behind the sink, gouging a hole in it.

Mario lunges back at Larry, wielding the pipe wrench. His first swing is a miss. On the follow through, he grabs Larry's chain and hangs onto the metal for a second - but Larry rips it away.

LARRY: Ah, victory slips through your fingers! Now for the jaws of defeat!

The fight intensifies. Mario clubs after Larry with the pipe wrench, using it like a baseball bat, while Larry erratically swings the chain in every direction, taking a scorched earth approach.

The chain is a cumbersome weapon - hard to aim and slow to reset. Mario uses this to his advantage. The mushroom power-up has greatly improved his fluidity, his speed, and his strength. His aches and pains are gone...

Until he takes a SHOT from the CHAIN right across the CHEST. He spins backwards -

LARRY: Boom! Like a top!

Larry chops at Mario's ankle, trying to take him down. Mario jumps, about a foot higher than average -

The chain smacks against the floor - and Mario comes down on top of it with both of his boots. Larry yanks the chain back - but Mario uses his weight and his strength to keep it grounded to the floor.

Larry yells. He wraps the free end of the chain around his fist and charges Mario, rearing back to punch -

But Mario is faster. He BASHES Larry's arm with the pipe wrench. Larry recoils and drops the chain - only to come after Mario like a wrestler -

Mario shoots backwards and SWINGS, striking Larry in the RIB CAGE and stopping him in his tracks.

He swings again -

The pipe wrench connects with Larry's SPINE. Unexpectedly, he stays upright - so Mario levels another swing - but at the last second Larry suddenly BUCKLES. The result -

MARIO STRIKES LARRY IN THE SKULL.

A slash of BLOOD flies through the air, SPLAYS across the wall.

Larry goes down. A POOL OF BLOOD forms on the kitchen floor. He stays down. Mario drops the pipe wrench.

**E/I. MARIO AND LUIGI'S HOME / VAN | NIGHT**

Worried that Mario has not yet re-emerged, Luigi watches the house from the driver's seat with the engine still running. Yoshi is active in the back seat.

Out of nowhere, the passenger side door pops open. Luigi jolts -

It is DAISY.

Yoshi darts at her, but the chain restricts his mobility. Still, she leaps back, frightened...

LUIGI: You scared-

DAISY: What is he doing? He's scaring me.

LUIGI: He's chained. He can't hurt you.

She watches Yoshi, uncertain.

LUIGI: Is something wrong? How did you-

Daisy slides into the van. Luigi is taken aback.

LUIGI: You can't be here right now. I'm glad you got out of the tunnel, but something's going on inside.

DAISY: I need you.

LUIGI: What?

DAISY: I'm so scared but I think you need me too. For some reason I don't know. Or can't remember.

She touches his face.

DAISY: You're warm.

Luigi looks at her deeply. Just for a moment, he forgets every other concern.

MARIO (O.S.): Luigi...

Mario has stepped outside onto the front porch. He signals for Luigi without really looking at the van and then goes back inside. To Daisy, Luigi says -

LUIGI: I need to go.

DAISY: You really don't. But I'll come back for you. I think we can help each other.

On that note, Daisy leaves the van - and runs away.

Luigi sits for a few seconds, trying to fully process what just occurred, before turning off the van and getting out.

**INT. MARIO AND LUIGI'S HOME | MOMENTS LATER**

Mario and Luigi stand over Larry's dead body. They stare down at something previously unseen on the back of his neck... A FRESH STREAK of PLAGUE.

A beat.

MARIO: He grabbed me, tried to wrestle me to the ground.

LUIGI: Did you touch his neck?

MARIO: I don't know. I don't think so.

A beat.

MARIO: Bowser wants to give me something.

LUIGI: That's what Larry said? You have any idea...

MARIO: That's all he said. Who knows.

Then, immediately, as if avoiding the issue -

MARIO: Moving the body right now is risky. We're gonna have to leave it.

LUIGI: For how long? We're just going to keep a corpse in our kitchen?

MARIO: It's got the plague, Luigi! I don't know, at least until the blood dries.

Luigi stares at the body.

LUIGI: Or we could leave the house... Get out of the Mushroom Kingdom altogether.

Mario looks at his brother.

LUIGI: Why stay? So we can die here?

MARIO: We just found the Princess-

LUIGI: And she's trapped inside a castle where the guards all have the plague and they're killing anything that gets close.

MARIO: You seriously want me to quit...

LUIGI: Everything is stacked against us. The plague, Bowser, the Princess. You even lost the support of the public.

MARIO: I can get it back.

LUIGI: How? By rescuing Peach? By saving someone they've grown to hate?

MARIO: That'll end when she cures the plague.

LUIGI Find those people in the street that almost tore you out of the van. Go talk to them. See what they think. No matter what...

Although usually brash with his words, this sentence is hard for Luigi to complete. Mario prompts his brother.

MARIO: What?

LUIGI: If you go to the castle, I'm not going with you.

Mario struggles to respond, having never anticipated hearing these words from Luigi.

MARIO: Then where are you going?

LUIGI: Away.

MARIO: Where, Luigi? Somewhere the plague doesn't exist?

LUIGI: I'll write you a letter when I get there and hope you're still around to read it.

A beat.

LUIGI: Come on, Mario. Come with me.

MARIO: I'm going to save her.

LUIGI: Don't do that.

MARIO: She's all I know.

There is truth in this, but the decision is heavier and more complex than a single sentiment. The moment weighs on both brothers...

LUIGI: At least wait it out, see if an Invincibility Star falls.

MARIO: For how long? They already tried to kill me once. What if it takes another year?

LUIGI: What if it comes tonight?

Mario takes a moment before responding.

MARIO: I should try to sleep.

He walks towards his bedroom.

LUIGI: I'll tie Yoshi up out front to guard the place. Mario nods. Sincerely, he adds -

MARIO: I hope you're still here when I wake up.

Before going into his bedroom and closing the door.

**INT. TOAD'S HOME | NIGHT**

Toad stands in the doorway of his Mario memorabilia room. All of his collectibles have been pilfered or desecrated. Equally troubling, the One-Armed Toad Boy is sleeping on the floor, on top of a bed of pillows.

The boy's brother, sister, mom, and dad are also here. They have found respite on the floor. Their chests rise and fall in slumber. Evidence of the plague can be seen on each.

Toad breathes heavily, unnerved. The One-Armed Toad Boy stretches, yawns... And wakes up.

He sees Toad watching him.

He bounces off the pillows, then grabs his baseball bat from underneath them. The child walks towards Toad, avoiding his family members on the way.

Toad scuttles backwards... The One-Armed Toad Boy follows.

Once Toad believes he is out of earshot from the memorabilia room and the boy's family, he speaks -

TOAD: This is my house.

ONE-ARMED TOAD BOY: You're Toad. I know. I used to want to grow up to be just like you. Then I got sick. I was one of the first ones. Everyone said I'd be lucky if I could even go to school. Then the plague took my arm, and my family got sick. My parents lost their jobs. We lived in the street. Mario wouldn't help us. That made me mad. But you kept writing nice things about him. I didn't understand that either. It made me want to be like you less. I started the riot at the parade and then finally someone helped me and my family. Ludwig gave us coins and a house. But I wanted a better house. So we took yours. It was empty. I didn't know where you were. Now we have two houses. Before the plague, we could barely afford one house. Now we got two for free. Maybe some day I'll like you again, Toad. Maybe if you start hating Mario. Who knows?

The One-Armed Toad Boy shrugs... And leaves the house. Toad stares.

**INT. MARIO AND LUIGI'S HOME, LUIGI'S BEDROOM | NIGHT**

Wearing a single boxing glove, Luigi quietly smacks a heavy bag. He has broken a light sweat.

The shadow of a human appears in the window facing the backyard. The shadow grows, before being replaced by its creator, Daisy.

She stands still, gripping the broken candelabra and looking at Luigi. He stops with the bag, picks up a towel, dabs his face...

They keep their eyes on one another.

**INT. MARIO AND LUIGI'S HOME, MARIO'S BEDROOM | "NIGHT"**

Mario sleeps...

Until the clock hits 5:30 and he rolls up to a sitting position, his body, as always, acting as a natural alarm. As he comes awake, however, he becomes confused.

It is PITCH BLACK.

Mario grabs the clock on his nightstand.

MARIO: 5:30… He peers out the window. Not even a whisker of sunlight.

Mario climbs out of bed, leaves the bedroom. He searches the vandalized home for clocks. One still hangs on the wall in the living room, another active on the coffee maker.

Both say 5:31.

He goes outside through the broken sliding glass door and stares up at the sky - it may as well be midnight. A beat.

MARIO: The sun didn't come up.

MARIO: Luigi, the sun didn't rise!

Mario turns back inside, hurries to Luigi's bedroom door -

MARIO: Luigi.

Nothing. Mario opens the door -

Luigi is not inside.

Mario checks the garage. The van is GONE. He rolls the garage door up, spirals back outside, to the front yard, searching for signs of his brother, signs of what is going on...

When he remembers Yoshi.

The pet is down on his haunches, as if asleep. Despite all the noise, he still hasn't moved.

MARIO: Yosh.

Mario continues to call Yoshi's name as he walks towards him... Yoshi continues to be still.

Mario reaches him, pets his neck. Something is wrong with Yoshi's head. It is bruised. The markings of the type of blow that would knock someone unconscious.

Mario lifts his hand away, looks at it.

BLOOD.

In addition to the blow to the head, Yoshi's THROAT has been SLIT. He is dead.

Mario stands... He covers his eyes with his hand.

**EXT. MARIO AND LUIGI'S HOME | LATER**

Mario drags Yoshi across the grass, to the backyard, to the shed that was his outdoor home. He slides the body inside, shuts the door.

**INT. MARIO AND LUIGI'S HOME, MARIO'S BEDROOM | LATER**

Mario adds extra layers of clothing to his body, wrapping a scarf around his neck, putting on a black balaclava and pulling on gloves, insuring no part of his skin is uncovered.

He lifts his pipe wrench off the bed, latches on to it...

One article of clothing remains. Mario's trademark red "M" cap. Without it, given that his entire body and face are obscured, no one will be able to tell who he is.

He picks the cap off the bed... And tugs it down over his skull.

He leaves the bedroom.

**INT. MARIO AND LUIGI'S HOME, KITCHEN | MOMENTS LATER**

Mario passes through. For the first time, he notices a JAR resting on the kitchen table. It is labeled with a symbol, a red, yellow, and white FLOWER, glazed with an aura of FIRE.

There is also a NOTE underneath the jar -

"_I scraped together what I could, but I don't think it's_

_enough._"

Mario examines the inside of the jar, which is lightly dusted with a flaky substance that resembles pepper.

MARIO: It isn't.

Mario finishes reading the note -

"_I'll wait for you at the pipe until noon. -L_"

He floats it back onto the table.

**EXT. SEWER PIPE SYSTEM | "NIGHT"**

In darkness, even though it is now officially the morning, Luigi stands on top of the pipe. Daisy sits next to him.

Luigi looks out over the expanse of the Mushroom Kingdom, able to see the turrets of the castle. But he watches something else - the road - hoping to see some sign of Mario...

**EXT. MARIO AND LUIGI'S HOME | "NIGHT"**

Mario walks outside, into the street, to a place where the outlines of the castle, his own personal lighthouse, are visible in the distance, thanks solely to artificial lamps...

Because the moon is gone from the sky.

Noting this, Mario begins his journey towards the castle, an expedition to clash with Bowser and save the Princess unlike any he has undertaken in his life.

END ACT TWO


End file.
